Heroes of 9/11
With the collapse of the first tower at Ground Zero in New York City, a plainclothes police sergeant finds himself in the street, blinded by debris and fighting to breathe. A high school student is watching the horror unfold from inside a church when he sees that the sergeant is in trouble and rushes to his aid. Join us for this inspiring “Behind the Badge” episode of APB Cold Case – the story of two men whose bravery and determination saved lives, their chance encounter resulting in a friendship that continues today.
This special story was borne out of the 9/11 tragedy at Ground Zero in New York City. It is the tale of two men from tat fateful day in 2001 – Jerry Kane, then a New York City Police Detective Sergeant; and Jonathan Stewart, a 17-year-old high school student. Their chance meeting takes a number of twists and turns, and you may be surprised when you learn who saved who...
Det./Sgt. Jerry Kane
Detective Sergeant Jerry Kane grew up in Brooklyn. As a teenager he thought that he would likely go to work for the telephone company as did many of his relatives. But it was at a Mets game in 1984 when the New York Police Department was handing out flyers for one of their hiring campaigns that Jerry considered a different career. He applied in June 1984. He took the test in December that year, and by July 1985 he was in the police academy.
Jerry started working in Midtown and eventually worked in Anti-Crime, Intelligence, and Detective Divisions. Then in 2000 he got his “greatest gig” when he was transferred to the Police Commissioner’s Office where he responded to all major incidents and handled visiting dignitaries.
From Peace to Turmoil
On the morning of September 11, 2001 Jerry was detailed to meet the Commissioner of Scotland Yard at the airport in New York City. But he would soon find himself diverted from that assignment. “I worked late the night before. So I just decided to go in late – that’s one thing that saves my life,” remembered Sgt. Jerry Kane. “When the first plane hit, the detective who worked with me called me on the Nextel and said ‘there’s a huge explosion.” Jerry raced toward the World Trade Center. But before he got there he saw something that is etched in his memory to this very day. “I can see the towers out in the distance, and the black smoke… it looked just like the USS Arizona from Pearl Harbor.” Then, the second plane hit the other tower, and Jerry knew that the world had just changed. Over his police radio he hears one of the top commanders on the radio calling the dispatcher with the most chilling radio call he had ever heard. “The chief said, ‘Have Operations notify the Pentagon, the city is under attack,’” recalled Sgt. Kane.
It was at 8:46 AM when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center; at 9:03 AM, United Airlines Flight 175 hits the South Tower. Jerry did not know it at the time, but simultaneously, 2 other planes have been hijacked – United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania, and American Airlines Flight 77 which crashed into the Pentagon.
Live news coverage all over the world is broadcasting live pictures of the events unfolding at what would become known as Grond Zero in New York City. The world knows that America is under attack.
By 9:15 AM Jerry has arrived in the area of the World Trade Center and meets up with command officers from NYPD. “I’m standing right in front of the towers and the jets come overhead. Let me tell you something. When the Air Force showed up, that was scary. It was a good feeling because no more planes would crash into our buildings. I knew those guys had that part up there covered.”
What Jerry does not know at the time, is that the South Tower will only be standing for about 45 minutes. He sees smoke pouring from both towers, and the sight of people jumping to their death. He struggles to process all that is going on and what he can do about it. “It did occur to me at that moment, that the brain is only built to like take in so much data and I’m probably taking in more data than the brain can handle. And I decided that I was only going to really put a lot of brain power into anything I could put my hands on. I can’t touch the planes, the jets, anybody up there ya know a thousand feet above me, I can’t touch them. But if you came in front of me and you were going the wrong way and I had to take you by the shoulders and direct you, turn you the right way. I could do that.”
EMT Jonathan Stewart Deploys
Not far away was high school student Jonathan Stewart, a newly trained EMT who had received an alert on his pager about the emergency unfolding at the World Trade Center. “The only number I had to call at the time was our Training Command which is at Fort Totten, and I was asking, ‘what do we do? Where do we go?’ It was pandemonium. The person on the phone said, ‘just go there, go there!’ And that’s what I did.”
Unknown to one another, both Sgt. Jerry Kane and Jonathan Stewart are each helping as many people as they can.
South Tower Collapses
And then at 9:58 AM, the South Tower collapses. Jerry Kane is in the street, as the 1500-foot-tall building starts to come down. “I was like maybe a hundred fifty feet from the base of it it’s a 1500’ building so it’s pretty bad. I thought I had 2 seconds maybe 3 to run and I actually had about 8 seconds,” said Jerry. “So I ran two seconds and got behind an NYPD truck that’s like the size of an ambulance… and then it was one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi, and I’m like, I should have kept running. But I didn’t. You know this was it, this is just like playing poker. My chips were now in the center of the table and there’s nothing I could do. I knew I couldn’t run again; running was over now. The building came down.”
As many others in the street, Jerry found himself enveloped in a cloud of dust and debris. He described the collapse of the building as deafening. “…you went from the loudest noise ever, to the quietest quiet ever…. It was freaking eerie.”
With the collapse of the South Tower, Jonathan Stewart had taken refuge from the dust and debris in a nearby church, having just experienced the same phenomenon as Jerry Kane. “Just imagine New York completely quiet. It is dark in the daytime. It is probably something of Biblical proportions…,” said Jonathan.
Det./Sgt. Kane in Trouble
Jerry Kane is in the area of Fulton and Church Streets about one block from Saint Peter’s Catholic Church, struggling to breathe. “I was choking to death, literally. I had taken a breath and the stuff, which was like falling like flour, jammed my throat. By reflex I took a second breath and that made it worse. I wasn’t quite sure if I was gonna to be able to get it out of my throat.” Jerry said he was not sure if he was going to make it, but he started crawling down the street. He makes his way to Church and Barclay Streets and comes into view of Jonathan who was inside St. Peter’s Church with other men taking cover and watching the carnage outside. The men see Jerry. Jonathan said, “I remember saying, ‘someone has to go get that guy,’ because he’s just laying out there.” With that, Jonathan rushes outside and grabs Jerry Kane and escorts him into the church. Jerry asks Jonathan, ‘where are we going?’, to which Jonathan replies, ‘a church.’ Now Jerry felt hope. “There’s something psychological about being inside a church that made me feel good.” The horror and trauma was still raging outside. But for now, Jonathan had rescued the man who would become a friend for life – he just didn’t know that yet. Jerry begins to compose himself. “So I get inside the front door and I just sweep my arm out I can’t see a thing my eyes are so full of dust… I find the holy water and I… put it in my hand… I took a handful with one eye and a handful on the other on the other eye.”
A medic inside the church checks out Jerry and takes his blood pressure which is ‘sky high’. The medic suggests that Jerry go to the hospital. Jerry tells the medic, “‘dude, do you see what’s going on out there? I’m not going to the hospital.’ I got calm and then I did what I was trained to do – I’m a police Sergeant and I tell people what to do whether they like it or not.”
From Victim to Leader
Sgt. Kane begins to look for resources to help others. He tells Jonathan to start ripping up anything made of cloth. But they’re inside a Catholic church – and the only cloth around are holy vestments, clergy robes, altar palls. It was at this moment when Jonathan realized that this guy giving orders was a cop. But more than that, this guy was a leader. Said Jonathan, “This is not just someone off the street, it was someone in an authority position… You know, a 17-year-old says something, doesn't make it in the air. Jerry said something, people move.”
Jonathan said that one of the orders that Jerry Kane had barked out was to cut up various religious cloths in the church. Jerry realized they were doing something highly unorthodox – something that would have been sacrilegious on any other day. But not today. Jerry felt he had to assert himself to convince Jonathan and others to do whatever they had to.
Sgt. Kane said, “I was an old altar boy and I knew exactly where the sacristy was which is the room off the altar where the priest prepares Mass. I knew that in there would be a sink, there would be flower vases, cruets, there was some chalices in there, there was other glassware in there…” Kane said they used two sinks to continuously fill and refill the containers, getting water out to people, and then bringing them back in a continuous cycle.
Sacrilege on any Other Day
Jonathan said, “While I’m not a Catholic, one has to understand that being in the doors of that church was probably the only time that I felt safe. It was symbolic but it wasn’t. God was in that building.” Jonathan said he understood that they needed masks and bandages, but he also said that Jerry’s direction made it easier.
Sgt. Kane said, “I had a knife on me and I gave it to Jonathan and I said, ‘John, you see that cloth that covers the altar like that tablecloth…take that, cut that into strips, we’ll soak it in the water for people to tie on their face.” Kane said that Jonathan recoiled at the idea of cutting up the religious vestments. But Jerry assured him that it would be fine, asserting another ‘rank’ besides Sergeant. “I go, John I’m retired altar boy, you can, you’re authorized.” And they did what they had to do. Jonathan said that although thigs were chaotic, everyone was respectful, knowing that they were in a place of worship and only using what they absolutely needed.
Rescuers Part Ways…. For Now
Sgt. Kane and Jonathan Stewart had been working in unison during one of the world’s worst tragedies. But at the time, they didn’t even know each other’s names. Jonathan went to an aid station that was set up at a nearby Chase Bank, but before he left the church, Sgt. Kane gave ‘the kid’ his NYPD business card. Jonathan remembered the words that Sgt. Kane said to him, “if we make it out of this, like look me up.”
The American Flag
On September 12th, about 24 hours after the collapse of the first tower, Sgt. Jerry Kane and his partner Detective Pete Fresher are at Ground Zero when they notice an American flag stuck on a light pole. Jerry said, “It was upside down that’s why we recovered it. It was like stuck up there we didn’t we didn’t like the look of it because it looked like a distress signal… We get it down, we had some soldiers fold it, the soldiers were there, and I brought it back to the office. I gave it to Commissioner Kerik. Commissioner Kerik gave it to Mayor Giuliani; Mayor Giuliani gave it to NASA; NASA flew it on the space shuttle in December of ’01.” The following year, on Flag Day of 2002, the flag was returned to Ground Zero – and it makes an appearance every year at September 11 memorial events escorted by NYPD, FDNY, and the Port Authority Police. Jerry is proud that he had a part in that, never thinking that it would become such a profound tradition.
Religious Vestments
There’s another important part of Sgt. Jerry Kane’s story. It is from September 10th - the day before the terror attacks. Jerry’s aunt Helen passed away. But because of all of the new restrictions for travel in and out of the city following the terror attacks, her wake was delayed. Eventually calling hours would be held. Jerry explained that, in the Catholic religion, it is customary that the family will donate robes, vestments or other religious items to the home church of the deceased. Jerry said, “These would have gone to Saint Anselm’s where my aunt lived, it’s a parish in Bay Ridge Brooklyn. But my cousins Marilyn and Ellen sent them to Saint Peter’s because I told them the story. The significance and emotion of the donation is not lost on Jerry who gets emotional as he recalled the story. “I just thought it was wonderful,” he said.
Whenever Jerry is in Manhattan and in the area of the special church where he took refuge on 9/11, he stops by. Jerry said, “I go to Ground Zero every 9/11. I always go to Saint Peters, say a few prayers…” Jerry used one of those opportunities to square-up with the new priest of the church, letting him know what happened on 9/11 at the church. “And I got to talk to this young priest, nice guy, and the caretaker of the property,” remembered Kane. “And the caretaker of the property today is the same caretaker of the property back in 2001. He was like, ‘You’re that guy, you’re the guy that did all that stuff?’” Jerry said he was relieved by the conversation and the understanding of the priest and caretaker.
Reunion
Jonathan Stewart was finishing up his senior year in high school and had confided in his guidance counselor about his experiences at Ground Zero with Sgt. Jerry Kane. That counselor reached out to Sgt. Kane to let him know that Jonathan was nominated for a Liberty Award and asked if Jerry would support the nomination. Jerry wrote a letter, and Jonathan received the award. And then, Sgt. Kane was invited to be a commencement speaker at Jonathan’s graduation, something that Jonathan said was a proud and indelible moment in his life. “That kind of solidified his place in my life because there are certain people that you cannot write your life story without including them... I cannot mention a large part of my life because it circles back to our relationship,” said Jonathan. The story of their relationship caught the attention of the news media which would result in a full scholarship for Jonathan.
Inspired to Serve
After high school and college Jonathan worked for a consulting firm in Rye, New York. But he said that he always had a burning desire to enlist in military service, something inspired by the events of 9/11. But he would need to work for it. “I’m out of shape, I’m huge, and I couldn’t run a block,” said Jonathan. But he worked at it, losing about 80 pounds and making his goal weight, telling his Navy recruiter that he wanted to work on a submarine. When the day came for Jonathan to leave for Boot Camp, his friend Sgt. Kane was there. not only was Jerry there, so was Jerry's wife Madeline. “That was the first time I ever met her. My mom is crying, but I remember Jerry and Madeline being there as a support for my mother, and I remember Jerry giving me some phone cards which really came in handy…it enabled me to call home when I was in Boot Camp.” Jonathan said it gave him peace of mind knowing that Jerry and Madeline Kane would be there for his mother if she needed them, and said Jonathan, it motivated him even more. “It was a reminder of why you’re doing this, and then I’m off to Boot Camp.”
Reflections
Today, Jonathan and Jerry speak frequently. Jerry retired from NYPD, and Jonathan is a social worker working with middle and high school kids. But they often reflect on their chance meeting and how it’s bonded them for life. Sgt. Kane said, “We would have never ever met.., and instead, not only do we meet, but he has such an impact on me. He got me to safety which was important. It was important to be in a place of safety. The sooner you got into a place of safety, the sooner you could reorganize your thoughts and start to be a part of the solution and not part of the problem. When I was out on the street, I was part of the problem. Once I got inside the church and got myself together, I was part of the solution, John made that happen. Without Jonathan, that doesn’t happen. So, a lot of guts, I mean, he was standing there with four adults - and who came and got me? The high school kid, he’s just a great guy!” Jerry Kane certainly made an impression on Jonathan at a formative time in his teenage years. Said Jonathan, “These are like figures that we look up to you but this is a real-life person that was able to transition seamlessly from, ‘it's all over’, to, ‘let's get the job done’, and be able to rally people around him and that way but, to be able to be that grounding force, grounding presence for others around him in an emergency.”
Heroes
But Jonathan is the hero in the eyes of Jerry and Madeline Kane. As much as Jonathan feels his life has been shaped by Jerry, Jonathan’s impact on the Kane’s is truly heartfelt. Jonathan will never forget what Jerry’s wife told him when they first met as Jonathan was shipping out to the Navy. “I remember Madeline coming up to me and saying thank you for bringing my husband home.”
APB Behind the Badge is grateful to Jonathan Stewart and Sgt. (Ret.) Jerry Kane for sharing their story of compassion, ingenuity, and courage.
The episode Heroes of 9/11 is dedicated to all of those whose lives were lost in the attacks of 9/11 at Ground Zero; near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and at the Pentagon.
Listen to the podcast episode Here